Eden is in our hearts
by Illuminavit Passionis
Summary: To know that the Apple exists is one thing, but do you have the will to take a taste of it?
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

How many people has ever looked to the sky and appreciated the sun? That red hot orb is one thing that we take for granted, not a word of gratitude. But like parenthood, only when we lost it that our regret became unmornable. And it happens everyday.

But to Tatsuya Shiba, does this scene carry any meaning? The answer would be a solid "No". Zenith or Nadir, Dawn or Sunset, they are all designated positions of sun, a celestial body that its temperature ranges from 5778 to 1.57 x 10^6 K.

And still, for now, he can senses something stirs inside him. Is this tenderness brought forth by his companion, Mayumi Saegusa? Clads in a simple summer dress and has her elated eyes hides under the straw hat, Mayumi's porcelain skin tops even the finest marble statue – It isn't the elegant but frost hardy white, but it's a hue pink, the color of life…

Maybe, but it's certain that this twilight has a distinguish effect on each and everyone's mood.

"What do you think of this? Much better that sitting between dusty scrolls all day, right?"

In celebrate of her senior year, the Saegusa has given everyone a holiday on a distance island of her property, locates on the furthest corner of Japan border. Tatsuya might had has stayed home if not because of Miyuki's persistence. Especially after all of the "accidents" that had happened recently. Until now, the young man has managed to keep a distance to everyone – A fortuitous has came to him: The local library has some interesting scriptures on Old Magic. He has intended to spent the last moments here like he has done for the last few days: read and read. However, the empress of First High suddenly barged into his reading quarter and proclaimed:

"You're coming with me!"

And here he is, observing the sunset with her. His honed instinct's continuously screaming in alarm of the Saegusa: She is powerful on her own, yes, but more importantly, she Knows. Information is power, Tatsuya understands it very well, and he's a anxious of what people could do if they know the truth about him.

But it's not a bad thing, though. Nothing to hide anymore – He can treat her like someone equal, and vice versa. Their steps go parallel on the sand, appear and disappear simultaneously under the waves.

"Shall we take a rest?" Mayumi leads him toward a lone abandoned fishing boat lays upside down. The hull of it has gone rotten and as fraying as a beggar's shirt – Breezes move through holes and makes notes of various pitches. It's an anharmonic harmony.

"You haven't answered my answer. What do you think of the sunset?" Mayumi's finger moving in synch with the abridged song of the boat.

"I don't know."

"I need something more explicit than 'I don't know'. Do you love it or hate it?"

"All the same to me."

Miyuki thinks, with a hint of exasperation: "Why it's so difficult to open yourself, Tatsuya-kun?"

Silence continues between the two. Incapable of facing her companion, Saegusa diverts her look toward the dying sun. Darkness, as she notes, rises from the ground in this place, just like the tides. It's the opposite of Tokyo or any other metropolitan that she has ever sat foot on: There, the night falls from the sky, similar to snow or rain. It makes an idea pops out of her brain, a premise of the story that she has been waiting to tell Tatsuya.

"You know, black and white aren't all that different from each other."

"Why so?" Curiousness flashes behind the boy's gaze.

"They are both encompass every other colors. The first reflects every, the other absorbs all. And…"

"You can't recognize neither of them without the present of different. I could see your point."

"Then, do you think that human is also the same?"

After a long time of thinking – long enough for Polaris to rise to its place – Tatsuya finally gave his answer:

"I suppose that none of us are completely good or evil, making all right or wrong choices. Maybe that is why men have to live together, to complement for each other."

"Good! But I want you to think in another direction: What defines a human?"

"Past... Personality… Social positions… Responsibilities… So many thing for me to enumerate."

"But isn't all of them are shaped from external forces? And each person's effort is almost minimum by comparison?"

This idea strikes Tatsuya hard. For the first time, he has to shuffle his life since the first memory. War, Peace, War,... Family, Allies, Enemies, Miyuki,... One by one, images pass through like a set of playing cards: Some stand out from the rest, but only when the hand is full that they show their deep impact on him.

And all is the game of devils.

"I… don't know."

"The correct answer is 'No'. Must always have faith in yourself, it's the thing that push us forward. It's yourself that you must take the job, no one else."

On the sky above them, countless stars are shining, the gentle light is reflected on Mayumi's irises. Tatsuya suddenly feels a fresh breeze passes himself when he looks into these orbs, a wind that comes from neither land or ocean.

"But, like you said before, we need to stick with each others. Giving everyone in needs a shoulders to lean on."

And there, the moon, serene than everything of this mortal world, rises from the exact same spot that the sun retreated from their eyes. White between Black…

"So is this little story the reason you lead me here?"

"No. I simply want you to answer this question: Will you let me be your friend? And I won't take no for an answer!"

"… Maybe…" Mayumi pounds repeatedly on his back, pouting like a kid that has been refused its favorite toy.

"Ok. Ok, you're my friend."

"Then you better tell me everything I want to know!"

"... Could I refuse?"

"No!"

This is the start of many thing for him, Tatsuya concludes. Good or Bad, he does not know, but at least he will stay to the point when the sun has finally set.

* * *

**Ok, so this is my silly little romance story. I don't know when will I be able to post the second chapter, but I'll try my best.**

**Read and Review!  
**


	2. Chapter I

**CHAPTER I**

The sea has as many faces as a skilled actor: Vehement, Boisterous, Verve, Serene, Mischievous, Stoic,… From the hug of a lover, it's capable to become the callous gaze of a green-eyed monster.

... Why is she in this dilemma, anyway?

Mayumi Saegusa curses on her stubbornness. Those fishermen at the port were right: She won't make it back. The premise hours of a tropical storm are always the most tranquil ones. She can even see the dim-lit Mercury on a corner of the azure sky. Because of this deceiving that Mayumi, who has been jailed on the island for the last few days because another hurricane, sails to this spot alone with her yacht.

However, what she finds isn't the migrating birds, but trails of thunderclouds and tempest. Mayumi is stuck between two monsters: One Hydra circles around, spitting whirlpools to trap her, and making small tsunamis every time it waves its tail. This snake is avariciously thirst for her flesh and blood. But the second ones, a Chimera that flies between the clouds, it's playing with her like a cat does to a mouse. Once in a while, it will snarl, accelerate to incredible momentum, strike down in a silver flash and intentionally missing her. Her ears have gone deaf because of ít earth-shaking growl.

It's unexpected that Mayumi, whose life hangs on the line, can only thinks of trivial things: Why the birds have to fly such a distance for every year? How much she has ate too much of that local shrimp curry, and which way to stop her rumbling stomach? What are her sisters doing now?

But that is how human psyche works. Facing with this harsh reality, some would become desperate, while others give up all their hope. However, these thoughts act as an anchor for her. She clings to the slim hope of being able to see another brighter day. Her body gradually goes limb from the leg, but she still tries to steer and row the boat between the hostile current. Her exposed fingers are frozen – it seems like they could break at any moment. But the parts under the plastic raincoat, they feels as hot as charcoal. Sweet mixed with rain drops blurs her vision, replaced reality with illusions.

"I wonder how would he deal with this?"

Probably standing on the nose of the yacht, face to face with the storm. Simply snapping a finger, and WHOOPS – Everything is solved.

… Her mind must be getting debilitated. Now it's not the time to think about it.

"Please give me strength…" Her plea falls into the noise of waves banging on the wooden hull. The combination assault of water, gale, thunder and lightning becomes more intense with every moment. Maybe Nature is coveting to end her life right here, right now.

She rarely shows her emotions – her position as a heiress requires that. But now, alone and standing before death, fear gradually invades the young woman, wrapping its icy hug around her.

So far, yet so close…

Her heart seems to stop for a moment: A wall of white water, comprise of waves stack on waves is heading straight toward her. And the moment when it all falls down, it's over.

Mayumi retreats to the deepest corner of her mind, raising an image as a barrier to brace herself.

… A certain boy that gets on her button…

* * *

… A certain marlin that gets on his nerve…

Tatsuya pounds on his situation: Alone, soaked by the rain, freezing and no coffee or cigarette to comfort. Watching and keeping the buoy still on the raging water that is slapping repeatedly on the scree. Just him, his fishing rod, and the fish. A hunt for a needle in the haystack.

But that is how his psyche work. The more seemingly-insuperable the challenge it, the more determinate he is. And this is the newest trial: A marlin that has been wandering around here for the last few days. All the usual inhabitants of the lagoon have been warded off by this disturber. The changing current, caused by El-Nino, must has brought it to here.

From the time he caught sight of it, Tatsuya has been aspired to hold it in his hands. Its scales, arranged like a lamellar armor, reflect all seven hue of the rainbow. The dorsal fin, a perfectly asymmetrical sword that slashes water in half. And many more attributes that make it the perfect medal for every fishing aficionado.

Tatsuya compares himself to the main character of _The Old Man and the Sea_. He's really similar to Santiago, isn't he? Down to the type of fish. Only different in the weather, and he is sitting on the edge of the cliff. Tormenting his body simply to touch one hand on the trophy: He is going to release it right away. However, it has became more than a battle between him and the fish – It's nature, the world that he is defying,

A slight tug on the rod nudges him awake. Tatsuya first relaxes his grip a bit. This one is heavier than what he has been waiting for.

Unlike what he thinks, there is not the feeling of "crunch": The hook getting swallowed. The fish is not even moving. He tries to move his hand, and it simply follow his lead.

So it's not a fish. Curiously, he pulls it up and finds himself a big surprise: It's human, a girl.

But that isn't the most astonished thing: It's the drowner's face that shocks him.

… Why is he in this epiphany, again?

* * *

Ugh… It feels like she has just eaten a whole chunk of ice and now suffering a severe case of brain freeze.

Mayumi feebly moves her fingers to no avail. Every inches of her body feel beaten. However, this pain also reminds her of one utmost important point: She is alive.

"I'm… not death. But how?"

From the foremost exhaustion, her senses begin to pick up signals: First is her noses: salt, wood, paper, leather, coffee, porridge, and sunlight. Then comes the sound: tides waves back and forth, palm leaves rustle in the wind, flame crackles on the stove, a pot whistles in impatient, and shouting from a far.

With the first few syllables, her eyes shot open. Immediately, they are over flooded with detail: From the incoherent texture of the wooden beam above her head, to the rough feeling where the cotton meets her skin. And the light, the aureate light that makes her blind for a few moments. It's like honey, or unsolidified amber that still contains glistering dusts.

Saegusa barely notices the gravel stabs her bare soles, or the heat of blood rushing to her face. Her vision fades into a shimmering blur that resembles a man wearing _suegasa_.

"You… You…"

"Come on! Come on!" Tatsuya exclaims in excitement as his fishing rod is pulled into a narrow curve. He alternates between yanking and reeling, each fills with alacrity. From time to time, his catch jumps out from the water, the force almost seems unbearable the already tense line. But he holds on.

Finally, a huge splash, and the fish is reeled up: A Tarpon, in the midst of its life cycle. It's as long as a grown man's arm, and a inch bigger than his thigh. Even dragged from ít environment and heading to death by the moments, it still struggles hard. Tatsuya could only holds it in his hands for a few moments, admiring its muscles, before deposits it into an ice box.

When all í done, he turns his face toward Mayumi and… smile?

Is this a ream? Yes, she has seen his smiles before, but they were merely courteous gestures. They never get to his eyes. But this one… It's different. Surreal, like this setting or even herself.

"Tatsuya-kun..."

"Come with me, Saegusa-san. I've a lot to explain to you."

* * *

Is this a dream?

Mayumi keeps pondering this question. She isn't even sure if her body is real – Her index fingers twich for every few minutes.

She's currently sitting in front of a bamboo table, on it a simple meal is set: porridge, made from very fine rice, scallops and some kind of meat – she presumes that it's rabbit, from the scent. It's as tasty as any delicacy that come from a five-star kitchen.

However, she can only make a few sips. Her taste buds haven't return to normal, but more importantly, it's because of the person she's eating with.

Sitting across the table is Tatsuya Yotsuba (she can't even remember when she started to use that name), enjoying his morning coffee while reading news from a tablets. Throughout the years, he hasn't changed much: Still a face that stands somewhere between an innocent child and handsome man. But more importantly, it's the self-contented grin.

It's abnormal, to say the least. Yes, she can still see some of his old self in that: a bit pretentious, although very elaborate. However, it seems to be more truthful and relaxed. He doesn't have that same suspicious front like always. Maybe the afterglow of his victorious battle against the tarpon?

To his other features. Tatsuya's body is now much more solid and tanned. Living on this island surely has made impact on him. The joints on his hands have bulged up a bit, giving them a more rough look. However, his eyes have rounded by a bit.

She's the one to break the ice first:

"I guess that you're not totally a hermit." The kitchen that they're in is stacked with all type of instruments, top of the line.

"I still keep contact with my family."

Family… Like her brother, Miyuki's no where to be found, like a _Alizé Maritime _turned _Mistral_. The underworld was soon shocked with the rise of a new Yotsuba figure, rumored to have usurped Queen of Night. This person is also shrouded in complete secrecy.

"Last time I heard from you was Leo and Erika's wedding. The groom was surely pissed because you didn't show up. He like the gift, though."

For all the Gods on Heaven and Devils under Hell, Leo finally mustered enough courage to propose his girlfriend. The result? A knee shoved into hí stomach. And an "Yes".

Their ceremony was amazing. Champagne flowed like river, while jokes and laughter were threw all over. Everyone from her high school years was there, except the Yotsuba's siblings, who sent a bottle of hundred years Metheglin as a present.

"I wonder whether is it a boy or a girl?" Last time she visited the pair, Leo was suffering his wife's wrath. Mood-swing, and it makes Erika extremely anxious.

"It's a twin."

"Oh, dear. I could imagine their ado. Does that mean both of them will have to stay at home?"

"Miyuki-chan gave Leo a position at Four Leaves Technology. Temporary, but he could both work and taking care of Chiba-san."

Guilty surges inside Mayumi's conscience:

"I should have care more for our friends. For you to support them…"

"That's what friend for, right? You're the one said that to me." Tatsuya's eyebrows rise up by a bit. "Your position as the eldest daughter of Saegusa's clan, And acclaimed magic researcher is not easy, either. You've chosen a hard subject yourself: "The Relational Quantum Mechanics and Convergent Systematic Reinforcement Magic."

"Oh?" She is slightly taken aback by this, but quickly fakes it with a smirk. "I don't realize that you're spying me. Maybe even when I'm in bath?"

Her shirt loses up as she crawls over the table and snatches the tablet from Tatsuya's hands, also giving him a view of her cleavage.

Hmm… June 14th. So she has been unconscious for two days.

"Not like you've anything to flaunt about." Tatsuya is one of a few to stand before her tricks, and the only one to pay it back equal.

He is rewarded with a puppy-like pout.

"Geez. You're really a mood-breaker, aren't you?"

The next few minutes is spent in silence. As soon as Mayumi finishes her bowl, another dish of tropical fruits is presented in front of her.

"I haven't thank you for saving my life, have I?"

"I simply hooked you from the sea, that's all." She almost chokes on her grapes with this answer.

"It's dangerous to sail alone in this weather…"

"Yes, ma'am, that will never happen again." The woman interrupted her friend's lecture while stuffing herself with fruits. Her table manner has partly disappeared. The dish is emptied in no time.

"… Could you give me a contact?"

"To send me home?" No. There is a lot that she must find out about this mystery, him.

"It's my vacation, and this place seems nice. May I stay here for the next few days?"

"People must be searching for you."

"They can wait. I ask again: Can I bother you for a while?" This comes with her most imploring face.

"You won't take a 'No' for an answer, will you?"

"You know me."

* * *

**Thank to all of your support, I've been able to published this chapter sooner than schedule.**

**I do notice that my work contains many grammatical flaws - it's the first time I uses present tense in my writing. Please pardon me.**

**However, if there is anyone of my reader want to beta this story, just contact me.**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**


End file.
